Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts.
Summary: Axel never considered that his spring break trip to the Destiny Islands would cause him to fall in love. But then again, many of the best things in life aren't exactly planned. Sometimes you just have to go with it.
Spring Break Crush
by EggDropSoup
The sun was beaming down, high overhead in the mid-day sky. It caused Axel's spiky red hair to appear brighter, almost like they were flames sprouting out from his head. Demyx had teased him lightly about it, joking that his hair was too shiny for these parts. And maybe that was true. The Destiny Island natives seemed far different compared to where they were from. Citizens from Hollow Bastian were usually more vibrant and flashy, what with the high paced and quick lifestyle a big city brought.
It was a habit for Axel to feel fidgety and anxious when left with nothing to do and the slow, languid atmosphere of the islands did nothing to counteract his restlessness. It was obvious that the locals all knew each other; he'd seen them call out to each other with smiles and waves, another difference from Hollow Bastian-the town where everyone kept to themselves. Such a big culture shock.
But Axel felt that the change of pace was needed as he had been going through the motions for most of his young adult life. His major at HBU was still undecided and he had given up a lot in prospect of accomplishments. It was only when he met Demyx randomly in the university mall - playing his sitar as he leaned against the giant fountain- that Axel had really made a friend.
Axel didn't often go home on semester breaks, so when Demyx learned this, he made it a habit to make plans with his best friend when they were out of school. Axel hated cold climates, which had led to them vacationing in warmer places, taking up activities that they could enjoy there.
So here they were, on Spring Break in the Destiny Islands-enjoying the sun, the warm tropical heat, and surf.
Axel was sitting on their outstretched beach towels, finishing up his lunch and looking at his surroundings with minimal interest until Demyx returned from the changing rooms on the dock.
Taking the last bite of his turkey and rye sandwich, he looked up to see one of the life guards walking over to the portable metal high chair. The kid was definitely younger than him, had spiky blond hair, a lean torso and shapely calves exposed by the uniform red swim trunks.
Axel wasn't able to get a closer look at him, as the blond climbed up the tower steps and sat in his chair, a red float in his lap and pulled out a bottle of sun block from one of the chair's side compartments and began running it over his lightly tanned skin.
Axel licked his lips as he watched.
"Axel," Demyx called out to him, jolting his attention away from the delectable sight. His best friend was wearing a black Speedo and strutting casually he approached their toweled off area in the sand. He threw his backpack down and kicked off dark blue sandals, stretching his limbs as Axel stood up.
"Damn it, Dem. Why'd you have to wear that? Everyone's staring at your dick." As if they needed more cause to stand out.
Demyx gave him a wide, toothy grin as he propped a hand on his hip and swiveled his pelvis to the right. "That's the point."
A few girls in bikinis stared at them as they walked past, leaving Axel to roll his eyes-forcing himself to keep his frown in place. "We came here to surf, not to strut around suggestively and freak the locals out. Or did you forget?"
"You say that now, but this thing keeps me nice and snug," Demyx replied as snapped the waist band of his swimsuit. "I'd be worried about those swim trunks of yours slipping off-if you know what I mean." Blue eyes gleamed suspiciously under wiggling eyebrows.
"Try and pants me and I'll kick your ass, Dem."
"Aw, you're no fun." Demyx gave him a mock pout before running his hand through his sandy blond hair.
Axel shrugged a shoulder, not giving a response as he grabbed his long board, uprooting it from the spot beside their towels. Though Axel was tall, the board's nine-foot-tall height still towered over him immensely.
"So who were you staring at earlier?" Demyx asked him as he plunked his own short board from the sand. While Axel's personalized board had flames and Chakrams decorating it, Demyx's was different shades of blue with musical notes and a replicated illustration of his sitar embellished on the front. What his board lacked in length and width, it made up for in speed.
"Nobody."
"Hmm," Demyx raised a hand over his eyes to obstruct the sun, squinting to see the blond figure scrubbing on sun block in the high chair.
"Enough chit-chat," Axel said as he hoisted his long board so that it was resting under his arm, against his side. "Let's get some grindage."
Demyx smirked as he followed suit, stepping aside lightly to avoid being slapped by Axel's long board's tail. "Sure. But tell me Axel, is it still considered surfing when you don't catch any waves?"
The red heard barked a laugh. "Really, Demyx. You're giving me advice now? Then don't forget that when you're faced with a barrel, it's generally a good idea to look in front of you when you're surfing. You don't want a repeat from winter break when we went to Atlantica, do you?"
"That was one time! I couldn't help that I got distracted."
"Suuuure. Next time you're in the tube; don't go staring at the other passing female surfers. There's a reason why they wear those extra tight wet suits and it's not to stay warm."
They continued their banter until they reached the shoreline, the waves flopping haphazardly and the foam glittering against the sand. The water felt cool against their toes, a soothing contrast to the humid sea air that rustled around them as they knelt to fasten the surf leashes to their ankles.
The news forecast had indicated that the day's wind conditions would bring major swells to the shores of Destiny Islands and if the increasing roll of waves and slapping white caps breaking on the blue ocean's surface were indication, the storm would be happening at any time.
Axel could feel the anticipation stirring in his belly, his legs twitching restlessly underneath him. "Ready?"
Demyx nodded, his face showing his own excitement. "What about you? Think that grandpa board of yours can handle it? The waves are supposed to get up to 18 feet today."
"The long board is a classic, Demyx. To call it anything else is blasphemy to the surfers that have come before us."
"Heh. Just keep telling yourself that when you're eating my spray." And with that the sandy blond ran into the shallows, plopping his board into the water when it got up to his waist and climbing up so that he rested on his belly and paddling his arms vigorously forward.
Axel was fast behind him, maneuvering his own board with less grace because of its length, but once he'd slid onto it, his body went into auto-pilot, his arms instinctively pumping and guiding him toward the rolling waves.
Axel paddled himself into position so that he was facing the shore and perpendicular to the foamy rows of water. Demyx was a few feet away, already getting a taste of the small swells, each one propelling him forward for a few feet before gradually slowing.
Axel sat up on his long board, kicking his legs in the water as he watched his best friend come to a stop before paddling back toward him.
Demyx parked besides him and they stayed that way for a while, their boards bobbing up and down with the current as they watched the sky begin to darken and felt the wind pick up.
He could see the huge foamy wave approaching out of the corner of his eye and from Demyx's sudden smirk; he knew his friend could see it too. They both simultaneously began paddling, their arms thrusting faster into the water as it approached behind them.
When the wave began to carry their boards, both of the men popped up-pushing up with their arms and using the momentum to jump to their feet smoothly.
Axel planted his left foot in front, balancing himself easily on his long board as the wave speedily moved toward the shore. The wave itself wasn't too high, just twelve feet, but he'd have to steer his long board carefully so as not to nosedive into the water below.
He was so concentrated on his task that he didn't see another wave billowing to his right and by the time he noticed, it was already crashing down on him, his side slapping painfully against the water before being pulled under. The current below the surface pushed his body around like a rag doll, the turbulence of it pounding into him hard. His surf leash was still attached to his ankle, causing his board to follow his flailing crazily as its buoyancy struggled to remain afloat.
He tried to right himself, fight against the riptide, but as his arms and legs tried to push him forward, toward the surface, he felt the muscles in his limbs jolt-spasm uncontrollably. The sharp pain seemed to flow through his body in waves, the dull constant ache resonating deep and leaving him immobilized.
He tried to calm himself, relax his body and let the muscles flex but his throat was beginning to burn-the tingling in his lungs an unbearable ache.
He felt the urge to cough as his chest convulsed and contracted. He wanted to breathe so badly-air, water, it didn't matter as long as it stopped his lungs from stinging. He futilely attempted to raise his arm toward the sunlight that beamed down through the deep as his body seemed to go limp and sink downward.
And suddenly the convulsing feeling disappeared as his lungs started sucking water in. Strangely enough, he suddenly felt great. His throat and chest were no longer in pain and the coughing had stopped.
The water he sucked in was hard to breathe, offering a lot of resistance and it felt heavy inside him, but his hazy mind didn't seem bothered by it, almost finding it pleasurable.
That was the last thing he remembered before taking one last gasp of water and blacking out.
Axel woke to a cold body and warm hands pressing harshly against his sternum. His head was titled upward and he was lying on his back in the sand. But even though he was aware of these things happening around him, he felt otherworldly-like he was watching a movie from outside his body.
He couldn't guess how many times those hands pushed down on his breast bone, pumping his chest cavity and his heart-moving the oxygen and blood around-and suddenly those hands stopped, one reaching over to cup his chin-pulling it up a bit more- and the other pinching his nose shut. A blurry face leaned over and pressed warm, wet lips against his.
Breathe in. Breathe Out. Breathe in. Breathe Out.
He felt his chest expand, taking in oxygen on its own and his eyes fluttered wide as he turned his head to the side, just in time to exhale, spitting out saliva and sea water.
Demyx was there, hovering at his side, anxious and worried, but at the same time trying to not crowd his now conscious friend. "Axel, man, what happened? One minute you were there and the next..."
Axel didn't have time to answer as he coughed again, sat up, and curved his upper body about so he could heave up the rest of the gunk that had settled in his lungs. Once the water had been expelled, he was reduced to producing a few dry heaves and recovering with fast panting.
"Are you alright?" An unfamiliar voice asked him, a few inches away. Axel had guessed it was his supposed rescuer, and he could feel the piercing gaze of eyes looking at him closely. "Take it easy, you just drowned. You don't want to get overly excited and hyperventilate."
It was then that Axel turned around, whipping his mouth with the back of his hand and finally looking at his savior for the first time.
He took in the deep blue eyes and the tanned skin of the blond lifeguard he'd been ogling earlier and if he didn't feel it then he sure did now- the warmth that suddenly flooded into his chest, balling up the heat in his lower stomach and causing his heart to beat erratically.
He couldn't look away, his gaze entranced on that lovely face. Even as the blond looked him over carefully, his lips moving slowly and forming words that didn't seem register to Axel's ears.
He had just fallen in love.
End.
Author's Note: So this is my first official fic for KH. I would love to hear what you think about it!
Hope you all enjoyed it and have a peek at my conversation with my sister, Vi-chan, while I was showing her the document. XD My friends and I have the weirdest conversations…
[Fri Mar 4 2011 02:33:27 PM] EggDropSoup: Mm. he also kinda slaps against the water's top. I edited the first paragraph a bit. He was so concentrated on his task that he didn't see another wave billowing to his right and by the time he noticed, it was already crashing down on him, his side slapping painfully against the water before being pulled under. The current below the surface pushed his body around like a rag doll, the turbulence of it pounding into him hard. His surf leash was still attached to his ankle, causing his board to follow his flailing crazily as its buoyancy struggled to remain afloat. He tried to right himself, fight against the riptide but as his arms and legs tried to push hum forward, toward the surface, he felt the muscles in his limbs jolt-spasm.
[Fri Mar 4 2011 02:33:02 PM] Vi: ldskjfkjshf pounding into him hard
[Fri Mar 4 2011 02:33:04 PM] Vi: I lol'd XD
[Fri Mar 4 2011 02:34:24 PM] EggDropSoup: you know what I mean XD
[Fri Mar 4 2011 02:33:50 PM] Vi: I know, I know, but its AkuRoku, I had to take it that way XD
[Fri Mar 4 2011 02:35:42 PM] EggDropSoup: XDD
[Fri Mar 4 2011 02:36:05 PM] EggDropSoup: The wave raping him imagery is never gonna leave me.
[Fri Mar 4 2011 02:35:35 PM] Vi: XD
[Fri Mar 4 2011 02:35:37 PM] Vi: Im sorry! xD
[Fri Mar 4 2011 02:36:40 PM] Vi: It was so good though, his muscles jolt-spasmed
[Fri Mar 4 2011 02:37:55 PM] EggDropSoup: lol XDDDD
[Fri Mar 4 2011 02:37:57 PM] EggDropSoup: omg.